Acquisition of Two-Dimensional Flowlite Laser Doppler Anemometer

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Abstract:This award to The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art is for the purchase of a Two-Dimensional Flowlite Laser Doppler Anemometer (LDA) for the Fluids Laboratory of the Albert Nerken School of Engineering. The Principal Investigator Joseph Cataldo, Professor of Civil Engineering, will use the equipment in connection with experiments in thermal plume, jet dynamics, and flutter, areas of research that are presently being conducted or are planned in connection with this research program.The versatility of the LDA will provide faculty and students with the opportunity to build on the engineering school's research in hydrodynamics, which it has been conducting for over three decades. The school's Fluids Laboratory has been the setting for experiments on such topics as: 1) static and dynamic effects of power plant thermal plumes; 2) thermal fronts; 3) patternization and quantification of the lake water entrainment into a discharge plume; 4) stratified flow in combined sewage overflow; 5) monitoring petroleum contamination in an aquifer; 6) interaction of surface waves and a jet; 7) flow visualization and radial velocity measurements of entrainment in an axisymmetric turbulent jet; 8) the study of Reynolds number on a jet; 9) chaos; 10) low Reynolds number in a jet; and, 11) hydrodynamic flutter.The laser will be used to open up new areas of research into complex two- and three-dimensional behavior through and around oscillating plates in the flutter experiment. The Reynolds stress in the jet experiments can be determined for low Reynolds numbers, surface wave interaction with the jet and entrainment flows. Also the movement of the thermal fronts can be determined with the proposed Flowlite system. The hot wire probe is presently being used. The size, weight and one dimensional flow limitation of the present LDA makes it impossible to obtain comprehensive two- and three- dimensional flow measurements. The proposed Flowlite LDA can measure X, Y, Z positions of the velocity flows and trace the movement of the fronts.One of the impediments of the current system is that it is used almost continuously during school hours by our graduate students, making it nearly impossible to schedule its use for demonstrations of fluid phenomenon to our undergraduate students. The acquisition of the proposed Flowlite LDA system means that our undergraduate students will also have an LDA for their term laboratory projects. Moreover, acquisition of the instrument enables us to have available a laser for demonstration and experiments in required undergraduate courses. Most important, the new LDA will enhance ongoing collaborations between civil and mechanical engineering (e.g., the aforementioned flutter experiment was conducted in the wind tunnel in the Mechanical Engineering Laboratory adjacent to the Fluids Laboratory), making it possible for our mechanical engineering students to conduct joint projects with our civil engineering students. The improved mobility and lightweight of the Flowlite LDA make it virtually a portable system; and it is virtually maintenance free.